In view of the current pandemic, I imagined that there would be a surge of interest in the fields of microbiology and immunology.
And there was. To a certain extent.
Unfortunately, unlike about 15 years ago, biology and biotechnology are no longer ‘trendy’.
It’s most visible in the way the term STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is used by schools (in Singapore) today.
Today, it is almost always used to refer to AI, programming, and robotics.
And if this is what the students grow up with, they will continue to automatically associate STEM with these areas.
There is no doubt that these are important fields to advance in and educate the next generation in.
At the same time, I wonder why there is so much focus on them and so few resources dedicated to other areas of STEM - chemical sciences, biological sciences, etc.
And then, I heard a comment on a program on TV that mentioned that science, like all other fields, goes through trends. And this happens because the scientific landscape is heavily influenced by the mighty dollar.
Whatever makes money becomes what the scientific community is pushed towards.
This is why I have great respect for scientists who work in fields that are “non-money-making”.
Think scientists deep in the rainforests collecting and cataloguing beetles, or out for weeks at a time on research vessels peering at fuzzy screens for signs of elusive denizens of the deep, or maintaining and attempting to grow endangered plants.
They may be poking into the quantum mysteries of the universe, tinkering with substances to come up with better insulating material for jackets, even testing new ways of preparing bouncy, sustainable fishballs.
Some research seems mundane, others feel incomprehensible.
Whatever the case, I feel that science should really be less about money and more about exploration and testing.
Yes, by all means bolster efforts to advance in the "current" things, but give some coverage and attention to the other areas of science as well.
There are so many, you'll never run out of things to be awed by and fascinated with.
Being Opinionated Is Not a Bad Thing. IF You Know How To Be.
It's okay to be opinionated.
IF you have good research and listening skills, know how to express your arguments tactfully, succinctly, and elegantly, and know when to keep your peace.
Having research skills, and putting them to use, reinforces your opinions with (at least some) facts.
Listening skills helps you to make sense of what other people are saying and not saying.
Being able to express your arguments well not only keeps you from turning your argument into an unnecessarily long rant, it also helps others keep track of what you're saying.
You may even convince a few.
Finally, knowing when to yield ground, when not to belabour dead ends, and when to just let things slide, keeps you from becoming too uptight, and keeps your relationships intact.
Please don't become that contrary, obnoxious person who butts into everyone's conversations and doesn't know when to shut up or concede.
Sometimes, keeping it light is the smarter way to go.
But hey, that's just my opinion.
Being the Curious Kid Taught Me Many Things. Some Good, Some Not so Good.
I was the curious kid in school.
Not just in terms of wanting to explore and find out more, but also in the other sense - a bit of an oddball and, though some find interesting, most find difficult to understand or relate to.
It never really bothered me that people didn't "get" me, because I didn't really "get" people either.
I remember writing (in a now-lost exercise book) that I found it frustrating to be unable to discuss things with my peers. I can't remember the exact words, but I recall something about nuclear fusion and the future of human civilisation and energy use.
And that being pre-Internet days, it took a lot of effort to find information in the library.
The good thing was that I learned to refine search terms.
It was an old search system (was it a Dynix?), and our libraries had an octopus mascot on the welcome page. Not sure if anyone else remembers this. It was quite similar to the picture attached to this post.
And when the Internet became widespread, the search term practice I've had since I was a kid turned out to be incredibly useful.
Instead of learning to communicate with people, I somehow learned to communicate with computer systems instead.
And today, with AI and machine learning, more and more people are learning to communicate with computer systems.
Who would've thunk?
Of course, I eventually learned to communicate better with people, but that's a story for another time. Though I say so myself, it's a pretty interesting one.
Gen X? Millennial? Caught in the Middle?
Am I a Gen X or am I a Millennial?
According to Wikipedia,
There are no precise dates for when this cohort (referring to Millennials) starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years.
Being born in the early 1980s, by this definition, I could be considered an early Millennial. At the same time, I may be a late Gen X instead. Again, according to Wikipedia,
There are no precise dates for when Generation X starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use starting birth years ranging from the early-to-mid 1960s and ending birth years ranging from the late 1970s to early 1980s.
Of course, the truth is that neither group is truly defined by their age. It has always been more of a set of characteristics and behaviours.
That said, there is likely no such person who embodies every single trait (and stereotype) of either group. Humans being humans, we are mixed bags.
I wondered about this when I noticed my reluctance to adopt now-popular social media platforms when they first started out. I knew of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like almost as soon as they became available to the general public but I was never among the first to use them.
Perhaps this has nothing to do with whether I am Gen X or a Millennial and more of me being a bit of a laggard (as opposed to the early adopters).
Even today, I am apprehensive of hiring transportation from private cars, much preferring to get to my destinations by regular taxis (even if I have to book them).
At the same time, I am no slouch when it comes to technology. I have been customising, upgrading and/or fixing up my own computers since I was a teenager, I trawl the Internet for information on maximising my use of computer programs or fixing technological issues that I face (usually very successfully), and I insist on being able to customise my own technological devices - a core reason for my refusal to use a particular brand associated with the fruiting body of the Malus genus.
I recognise some stereotypical Millennial behaviours in myself, such as:
1) Researching product information on the Internet before making a purchase
2) Insisting on finding meaningful work
3) Disliking other people taking up unnecessary amounts of my time
Yet, I hardly exhibit other stereotypical Millennial behaviours, such as:
a) Viewing social media 'influencers' with large followings as celebrities
b) Embracing the Sharing Economy
c) Desiring a workplace that is social and 'fun'
It got me thinking: Aren't behaviour molded by cultures? Since the Millennials are the ones growing up with all this technology around them, is it any wonder that the behaviours forged by technology are picked up most quickly by those who are most deeply immersed in those same technologies?
With high Internet speeds, we become less patient. With mass production, we find blending in easy. With ready information anytime anywhere, we become less easily satisfied and more skeptical of what is presented before us.
The behaviours of a stereotypical Millennial, then, aren't so much to do with when the individual was born but, more likely, how readily they he/she has taken to the available technology. After all, there are 'aunties' and 'uncles' who exhibit the very same behaviours we ascribe to Millennials, and who embrace the fast-paced, high-tech lifestyle of the 'young people'.
So, am I a Gen X or a Millennial?
I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?
